The present invention generally relates to a filled edible product, and an apparatus and method for producing such a product. More particularly, the present invention pertains to a filled edible product comprised of an inner component, such as a gel medicament, substantially completely surrounded by and enclosed within an outer component having crimped ends, and an apparatus and method for making such a filled product.
Certain pet medications, such as hairball treatment medications for cats, are commonly available. Hairball treatment medications in particular typically are in the form of emulsions of either mineral oil (liquid petrolatum) or petroleum jelly (white petrolatum). Malt extract (malt syrup) is typically used as a palatant and also is the base from which the emulsion is formed. Depending on the particular type of product, acacia gum (gum arabic), lecithin, fatty acids and glyceride are used as the emulsifiers. Some products also include vitamin supplements and possibly also preservatives to control mold growth.
Some known hairball treatment products are in gel form and are packaged in a tube. The pet""s owner administers the gel by squeezing the desired amount of the gel onto the cat""s front paws or nose, with the hope that the cat will then lick and ingest the gel. An alternative way of administering this type of tube packaged product is to squeeze a ribbon forming the desired amount of gel onto one""s fingers and feeding the gel to the cat.
Another known hairball treatment is packaged in a stick form. In this alternative approach, the product is adapted to be administered by turning a dial on the stick to cause a desired amount of the product to be exposed. The product can then be rubbed on the cat""s paws, rubbed on one""s finger and fed to the cat, or simply given to the cat to lick directly from the stick.
In all of these various known hairball treatment products, the administration of the hairball treatment is rather messy and may not always be effective from the standpoint of the cat actually ingesting the medication.
In light of the foregoing, a need exists for a different way of administering pet medicaments, such as hairball treatment formulas, that does not suffer from the same disadvantages and drawbacks as other known products.
A need also exists for a method of producing such a product in a way that lends itself to high speed, high output production so that production of the product on a commercial scale is possible.
It would also be desirable to provide an edible pet product containing edible foods other than pet medicaments, as well as an apparatus and method for making such a product.
One aspect of the present invention involves a system for producing an edible product that includes an edible inner component made from a first material and an edible outer cover component substantially completely encapsulating the edible inner component. The system includes a first material source for supplying a first edible material, a second material source for supplying a second edible material, and an extruder for continuously coextruding the first edible material and the second material to produce an elongated rope of edible product. The extruder includes a manifold having a first conduit connected to the first material source and a second conduit connected to the second material source, with the first conduit being positioned within the second conduit to produce during coextrusion a continuous longitudinal rope comprised of the first edible material surrounded by the second edible material. A crimping apparatus receives the longitudinal rope extruded from the extruder for crimping the longitudinal rope to separate the longitudinal rope into individual edible products. The crimping apparatus includes a first movable member and an opposing second movable member, with the first and second movable members being connected to a drive source for moving the first and second movable members. The first movable member has a plurality of protruding crimping elements positioned to define compression points with the second movable member as the crimping elements move into confronting relation with the second movable member during movement of the first and second movable members. The first and second movable members move at the same speed and in the same direction at the compression point, and the longitudinal rope is received in the compression point with the longitudinal rope being compressed between the crimping element and the second movable member to separate the longitudinal rope into a plurality of individual edible products.
According to another aspect of the present invention, an edible product includes a first material in the form of a hairball treatment formulation, and a second cover material surrounding the first material to encapsulate the hairball treatment formulation.
Another aspect of the present invention involves a method for producing an edible product that includes supplying a first edible material to an extruder, supplying a second edible material to the extruder, and continuously coextruding the first and second materials as a longitudinal rope in which the first material is positioned within and surrounded by the second material. The longitudinal rope is cut at spaced apart locations as it is being extruded from the extruder to produce individual edible products each containing an inner component comprised of the first material and an outer cover component comprised of the second material that substantially completely surrounds the inner component, with the edible products being sealed at opposite ends.
In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, an edible product includes a semi-fluid edible inner component, and an edible outer cover component that substantially completely encapsulates the inner component, with the outer component being more viscous than the inner cover component, and the outer component being sealed along seal areas at two opposite ends.